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58 Chap. 4 / DESIGN AND REDESIGN OF NEIGHBORHOOD STREETS TABLE 4.1 SOME EFFECTS OF VERKEHRSBERUHIGUNG IN BERLIN Street Average . Average Motorized Vehicles Noise Level Speed per hour percent trucks dB(A) (km /h) before after before after before after before after Knobelsdorfarstr. A 430 220 9 8 70.3 62.7 38 23 Knobelsdorferstr. B 357 213 7 8 68.9 63.9 38 26 Danckelmannstr. 110 120 17 10 65.5 63.2 30 23 SigmaringerStr. 186 90 11 8 65.6 61.1 37 31 Neue Christstr. 147 138 7 5 65.4 63 2 35 27 Paulsenstr. 217 100 4 4 63.3 60.0 — 23 Wrangelstr. 103 90 13 8 66.9 62.4 35 22 Hildegardstr. 760 330 7 8 70.0 66,0 45 37 Fahranheitstr. 73 28 6 0 60.1 56.3 -- — Taborstr. A 175 137 14 11 67.2 63.0 36 23 Taborstr. B 130 117 16 9 67.1 62.3 39 26 Saatwinkler Dam A 517 15 69.6 — 57 Saatwinkiar Damn B 1135 17 -- 69.9 34 Source: Giesler. Nolte, 1984. Influencing Driver Behavior through Design The European experience is useful for North American transportation planning and design. Indeed, traffic management schemes have been applied in a great number of communides in the united States and Canada, and evaluations of these schemes are being carried out (see Chapters 5 and 6). However, comparatively little use has been made of street design changes— change to the street space that alters the appearance of the street and changes driver behavior. Such physical changes include landscaping or careful design of curbs, street surfaces, lighting, bicycle paths, crosswalks, and many other features. These design changes can influence driver behavior. They influence the way car drivers and all other users experience the street (Appleyard, Bosselmann,1980). Improvements for street design can solve safety problems on residential streets with low traffic volumes. Here the occasional fast car can be very dangerous to playing children, and is perceived as dangerous by all other non-motorized street users, including bicyclists. Streets as Places. On most streets in North American cities car drivers do not have the experience of entering into places for residential activities The streets provide long views, allowing the driver to anticipate future events with reasonable certainty. The edges of the street space consist of uninterrupted horizontal lines converging on the axis of the road (Fig. 4.12). Many cars face in the same direction and offer little threat of quick- ly moving across the driver's path. Frequently there are few signs of residents or children, and, often, few trees are tall enough to interrupt the view. In sum, the streets look like and are experienced as channels designed for the driver. However, it is possible to create memorable images of places in the minds of drivers. For example, the street shown in Fig. 4.13 has a natural depression framed by tall old trees. Page 5